Transphobes are waking up to the realisation that the development of smart phones was partly made possible by a trans woman. Lynn Conway co-developed a revolutionary chip design that made smart phones possible. They are horrified at the possibility that using a smart phone validates trans woman.
Richard Wadd has prided himself on adhering to traditional values such as misogyny, racism and of course hating anyone who is remotely different. When he heard the news that a trans woman was instrumental in developing smart phones he was conflicted. “I needed to get on every social media site that mentioned this story and make comments such as ‘Good for him’, ‘behind every successful woman is a man’, and my favourite ‘dont have a cissy fit’ [1].
But the whole thing was spoilt by people commenting about him using a trans phone. That really annoyed Dick. Him and his friends and family have vowed never to use smartphone again. As there is no landline service in their area they have been busy with yoghurt cartons and string setting up lines between the various houses.
While she kept a low profile allowing her male colleagues to accept the credit, her contribution was known in the industry. In 2014 the University of Michigan posted: “Thank Lynn Conway for your cell phone.”
Having been fired from IBM in the past when she informed them she was transitioning, Lynn was keen to keep in the shadows. However over the past twenty years she has been reclaiming her reputation and acknowledgment for her achievements. This has included receiving an award in 2009 from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and last month she was inducted into the National Inventors’ Hall of Fame in recognition of her as the co-creator of VLSI.
IBM did apologise in 2020 for the way she was treated in 1968.
[1] these comments were made on a Facebook post about this story. If you really want to see them they are available.